Summary: The lost son of Galmora, Caspian, son of Orion, and the enchantress from beyond the stones, Caia Hicks, meet purely by accident. She's been alone her entire life, abandoned and neglected by her own parents. He's been frozen in stone for years after being betrayed by the one that he loves, grieving for the family that she killed. She is desperate for love, he lives only for his revenge.
Learning she is an enchantress doesn't startle Caia. Caspian, however, is scared by her ability to wield her power without any trouble. Enchantresses, blessed by the goddess with powers over stone, lose their minds to their power and he fears that the ease at which she uses her power means that she will do more damage than the enchantress that killed his family. However, to kill that enchantress, he is willing to work with this one. What he doesn't count on is coming to care for this poor girl that no one has ever cared for before.
Prologue: "I didn't know I could do that."
The jagged edge of the slippery rock sliced through his hand making Caspian cry out in pain as a single trail of blood flowed down his arm, mixing with the rain and mud that already coated him. The chill of the air and the cold of the rain washing down the cliff side were making his hands numb. He felt the warmth of his blood like a trail of fire burning down his arm.
A quick flash of lightning exploded in the distance, briefly illuminating the long climb he still had ahead of him. It was the quickest, most dangerous path to his goal. He didn't care about his safety so much in this moment. All that mattered was reaching the top and killing the thing that waited, perched up there like a vulture.
So he placed his blood and rain slicked hand back on the rock and continued pulling himself up, refusing to let the cold or exhaustion slow him down.
His muscles were burning with the effort. His hair kept falling into his face, into his eyes. Every time he wiped them away, he spread more dirt across his nose and forehead.
He was dirty from head to foot anyway. The long hike through the forests around the cliff face then the longer hike to get to a place where the creature waited on the cliff had already worn down his body. But he couldn't afford to give up. Admitting defeat to this enemy could mean the destruction of all of his people, of his entire town.
The hilt of his sword clanged against the wet rocks with each painful surge up of his body. The weight of the metal pulled down on him as did the shield he had strapped to his back. He dared not drop either one. The creature was powerful, merciless, and eager for blood. He would need both if he was going to defeat it.
He tore his nail, ripping it back on the rock and groaning with the pain. He didn't stop, he kept climbing. He could worry about pain and healing later. Later, when his people weren't in danger. When his friend's lives didn't hang in the balance. When he had claimed his revenge against the dark, horrific thing that waited at the clifftop.
Caspian looked up just as another bolt of lightning flashed. He couldn't help himself. He gasped at the large, imposing shadow that was looking down at him. He couldn't see it's face. He could only see that it was easily taller than two men and it's enormous figure almost blocked out the sky.
When the next lightning flashed, the thing was gone.
He gritted his teeth, snarled at it, and continued climbing. Caspian wasn't going to let that thing scare him away. He was getting up there and slaughtering the monster. For his people. For himself. For the souls it had already taken.
The sight of the shadow only spurned him on. He tried not to go too fast. He didn't want to slip and fall to his death, not when he was so close. But it made him better able to ignore the sharp pains in his fingers and hands. The scraps on his legs and body that cut through his leathers to the soft flesh underneath, the cold of the rain and wind, the sheer exhaustion that made him want to turn back and give up. He ignored it all and forced himself to continue.
His eyes were forward now, focusing only on the next step and pulling himself just a bit farther. So he missed it when he reached the top of the cliff. He extended his hand but encountered only air. Then he looked up to see the edge of his destination.
Grinning painfully at his victory, he placed first one hand then the other at the top of the cliff and pushed one last time to move himself over.
No sooner than his feet found solid ground again than he was up, drawing his sword and pulling his shield around, prepared for any attack.
None came immediately. The storm continued to rage, the wind gusting up from below the cliff and tossing his water darkened, shoulder length hair around.
His eyes narrowed, scanning the dark area ahead of him carefully. There hadn't been an attack yet. Was he too late? Had his prey seen him and fled?
Unacceptable! He wouldn't return home without that monster's head! If only for his pride he was going to slay the beast here and now.
He took a few cautious steps forward, uncertain of what to expect. He couldn't see all that clearly. It was a grassy cliff, wide and empty. The tree line started quite a few lengths away. However, the trees of the forest were large, taller even than the temple in town. They cast long shadows, created a space of darkness that even the largest of creatures could hide in on a night on this.
Then the goddess took pity on him and sent another flash of lightning. This one was closer, brighter, and lasted so much longer. The image of the enormous thing burned into Caspian's eyes and he crouched low, bringing up his sword. He had gotten much closer than he realized.
"Stop hiding, coward! Come out and fight me!"
"Leave me be, Caspian."
The sweet, almost flowery, feminine voice that answered him had Caspian gritting his teeth in anger. It was bad enough the crimes she had committed, now she dared to sound tired and sad.
"Monster! Show yourself!"
His voice was almost drowned out by the loud roar of the rain but he knew that she heard him. The silence that echoed between them lasted only a few seconds but the tension stretched those seconds out into painful minutes.
Then Caspian heard a loud rumble, like rocks sliding against each other. Now that it was moving, he was better able to see the enormous thing as it stood from it's crouch and stepped out of the way, its dark silhouette barely seen against the forest.
He didn't hear the match strike, but he did see the small fire that resulted from it. Then the larger fire as the match was placed into a lantern. The light of it cut through the rainy night and revealed to Caspian the beautiful face of the woman he once loved.
And the much larger stone face of the creature that she commanded, the creature that kept its hand above her, shielding its dark mistress from the rain.
"Rowan," he growled her name.
She looked devastated to hear him call to her that way, and she turned away from him. Hers was a vision of sad beauty. Her long black hair hung around her heart shaped face, only damp from the storm around them. The silky strands swayed in the strong winds, crossing over her mystifying, beautiful golden eyes. She set the lantern down gently on the rock she was sitting on and revealed to Caspian the stunning, powder blue dress he himself had bought for her.
The hatred that coursed through his veins at seeing her dare to wear it only made his anger and bloodlust that much worse.
"Can't you leave me alone?" she asked him, her shoulders slumping. "I didn't mean to do it, Caspian. You know I would never-"
"You killed them! You slaughtered my parents, Rowan! They were soon to be your parents and you took their lives with that wicked gift of yours!"
"I didn't! I-" she cut herself off. "Caspian, please. I'm sor-"
"I will not hear more of your lies!"
She flinched back at the raw anger and hate in his voice. He could see the pain of it in her eyes and it only pleased him. His own grief and self hatred hurt him too, he wanted her to feel some of that. He wanted her to know just how much her hated her. He wanted her to look into his eyes as he took her life as she had taken his parents'.
He wanted her helpless and scared. He wanted her trembling and begging for a forgiveness that he simply did not have in his broken heart. He lost his parents, his lost his love, he lost his honor all on the same day because of her. He would take from her as she took from him.
However, instead of the fear he so wanted and would have relished in, Rowan's eyes hardened on him and she got to her feet.
"I'll leave, Caspian. I won't ever come back, you need not ever see me again. Just leave me alone and I will never again curse you with my presence."
"Not good enough! It's your life or mine! One of us is going to be dead before they can leave this cliff, I promise you that. Now face me, you beast. Try to kill me as you tried to kill my parents."
Rowan's face was ugly in anger. She snarled, her brows furrowing at the accusation. She felt pain too at their deaths. He wasn't the only one that loved the pair of them. As he said himself, they were soon going to be Rowan's parents as well. She couldn't live with herself for what she had done but, after all, it had been an accident. She hadn't set out to end them.
Hearing the accusation, feeling that guilt, only made Rowan angry and desperate. She didn't want to hear this! She couldn't handle it!
In her anger she reached out and touched the stone creature at her side. Silence him, she ordered it desperately. I don't want to hear him speak anymore!
The giant stone sculpture turned its face towards Caspian.
The young warrior saw it's movements and snarled. He quickly sheathed his sword and grabbed instead for the stone working tool at his belt. He had taken it from the master sculpture's shack before he had come here. It was like a hammer and an ax blended together. The edge was dulled to nonexistence, the back end larger and heavier to support it. Made of metal, used for breaking stone, and big enough to damage to even the monolith that Caspian faced now. It was far more useful than a sword would be in this moment.
No sooner than he had the hammer in his hands than the statue began moving towards him. Slowly at first, as if it were taking its first steps. Then it began picking up speed until it was charging Caspian down, its large stone feet leaving great divots in the ground below.
Unafraid – his hatred and anger stole that from him – Caspian roared in challenge as he lifted his hammer. Then the statue was upon him.
He ducked under its legs, reaching out and slamming the hammer against the inside leg as he did. The force of the strike reverberated up Caspian's arm but he had the satisfaction of seeing a small chunk of rock fall from it.
It was big, it did not feel pain, and it was brought to life by the wicked magic of the enchantress behind him, but that would mean nothing if Caspian broke it into tiny pieces.
Another grab by the statue, another dodge and whack. He aimed for the same spot and more stones fell this time. He heard them thud against the ground even as he was drawing his arm back for a third strike.
The statue moved its leg and Caspian's blow went wild and he fell. He was back up in a moment but he was careless. The statue drew back its large hand and bashed Caspian's side.
He cried out in pain and surprise as his body flew away and landed with a loud thud and oomph on the grass some distance away. He could feel the hit radiating up his entire body. He was sure that it had broken a few ribs just by judging the location and depth of the pain. The shield had absorbed the majority of it and had cracked down the middle in the process.
But it didn't matter at the moment. The statue was charging again and Caspian forced himself back up to face it. He wasn't dead yet. He was forced to drop the broken shield though. One blow was all that it could afford to take.
Man and stone sprinted at each other. Caspian ducked under the thing's outstretched hands and struck up with his hammer when he did so. A loud crack, far louder than the ones before, broke through the air and Caspian turned in time to see the entire finger he had struck fall from its hand.
Rowan cried out in surprise and anger. She always said that she felt like each statute was a part of her, her child in a way. Which was the best she could have as the witch could not have children. One of the many things that Caspian had never stopped loving her for.
Seeing him damage her precious stone slave in such a way made her angry. She had no sculpting skill, there was no way to fix such a wound.
However, the statue had its orders and it felt no pain. It turned around to face Caspian again, reaching for him with a four fingered hand this time.
Caspian brought his hammer down in a wide arch just as those fingers reached him. He had no such luck as last time and only carved off a small piece of stone. Then he had duck out of the way to avoid being captured.
No matter what, he couldn't let the statue grab him. It would squeeze him in its massive hands and crush the life out of him before Caspian could even attempt escape. Since that was exactly how his parents had met their end, he knew it all too well.
He crawled a few feet, just far enough to get out from its reach then he turned and jumped back up. He was racing at the thing before it had a chance to turn back.
The glancing blow he landed against its leg did no damage at all. It bounced right off, hurting Caspian's wrist more than anything. He cried out in the pain of it even as he was turning to face his opponent again.
He would not lose to this thing. This thing that had once been so holy. This thing that now was forever tainted with death. It had his parents blood on his hands, it would not have his as well. The hammer lifted as the creature grabbed mindlessly for him once more.
The strike towards the other hand took the tip of its finger off. Caspian grabbed the large stone in his hand and lobbed it at the thing's face with all of his strength. It did not hurt, but it broke the nose and cracked the entirety of its visage.
Rowan whimpered at the destruction of her precious statue and it only made Caspian angrier. Had she cried like that when it had crushed his parents? Or had she just stood back as she was doing now and watched it all like the sick voyeur she was?
The stone abomination took a step back, as if surprised at the attack, before it stepped forward again. It was too slow this time. Caspian ducked under it again and laid another hit against its already injured leg. There was a second breaking sound that broke the air.
Caspian turned back in surprise as he ran past. The goddess pitied him again and lightning struck as he did so. There was a large crack reaching out from where Caspian had begun chopping at its leg.
He looked down at the hammer in his hand. He had struck the finger once but the resulting crack had been big enough to break off the entire thing. Perhaps if he struck the leg similarly he could render the entire creature incapable of walking.
Unable to move, it wouldn't be able to attack him and Caspian could turn his attention to Rowan.
His arm was sore, the entirety of it aching with the force he had put behind even those few strikes. It was nothing like swinging a sword. It required even more force and each blow dealt damage to Caspian even as it did the same to the creature.
He couldn't keep this up forever, but he didn't need to. He only needed to break off the thing's foot and it would be helpless and useless.
He set his eyes on the injured leg as he rushed it again.
The statue swept its arm out to the side in a wide arc that Caspian had to dive to avoid being struck by. His face landed in the mud and he felt his hand encounter empty air. He had been pushed back against the cliff side.
He climbed to his feet quickly.
The statue was coming at him again. Caspian roared and ran forward. He swung out his arm just as the thing landed it against the earth. The hammer hit at the same time as its foot and the resulting snap was loud enough to be heard even by Rowan who cried out in outrage.
Caspian slid to a halt in the mud and turned back to his opponent. But it was already over.
The crack widened all the way across the leg and the stone man slipped off of it. Its balance lost, its arms waved almost comically in the air as it fell back. Rowan cried out and Caspian grinned darkly at his victory as the large stone man fell over the cliff without a sound, the broken leg tumbling uselessly after him.
He turned back, his chest heaving and his limbs sore, to Rowan. He tossed away his hammer and it landed just as the loud crash at the base of cliff told him that the statue had as well.
She would be a much easier opponent. Rowan could not fight. Her body was frail and delicate because Caspian had made her a lady. She had never needed to work, she had been pampered. Because he loved her, Rowan could now not defend herself while he cut her down.
"How could you?!" she screeched in her anger. The evil creature dared to have tears in her eyes at her stone monster's demise.
"That was the thing you used to kill my parents, wasn't it? You defiled what it once was." he drew his sword, the familiar weapon fitting to his hand much more comfortably than the hammer had. "I could not live knowing that it continued to exist anymore than I can allow you to exist."
She turned her hate filled eyes on him. "You're the monster, Caspian! All you ever did was try to make me something that I'm not! You kept me oppressed and afraid and a servant to your every need!"
"You were my betrothed! I gave you nothing but love and security! Everything I did was to protect you! You never would have lived this long had I not done what I did!"
"You kept me from my true self! You kept me from my power! You had me so sure that I was some kind of evil thing undeserving of life for being nothing more than what I am!"
"Then I was right! You're a heartless murderess! But because I was so damned determined to see the good in you I ignored what they said about your kind. It was my own naivete that got my parents killed. If I had reported your wicked powers to the temple they would still be alive now!"
"Yet they would have killed me! I did not choose this, Caspian. I was born this way! You're the one who deserves punishment for always locking me away!"
Caspian snarled at her. "You are a wicked creature. Why the goddess chose to put evil things such as you in our world is a mystery that will forever haunt me. But I will make sure that you're no longer around to do anymore damage. I will kill you here, Rowan. Then I will take your head to the temple and burn it in the holy fire as restitution for the lives you took! That my foolishness enabled you to take..."
His words only made Rowan angrier. He had no idea what it was like to fear yourself so completely. He could never understand the power in her. Everyone was so quick to judge her. Everyone said that her kind was evil and wrong, yet they never gave them a chance. Anyone with her power was immediately put to death no matter how young or old.
As if Rowan was evil for nothing more than her power over stone. They didn't even give her a chance. Even those that were to be her parents had condemned her upon learning of her true nature. They claimed to love her, they called her daughter, they had known her their entire life. When Caspian had come to them to ask for their permission for marriage, they had agreed without even a thought. They had loved her, they called her precious and kind.
And upon seeing her animate the holy statue, they had called her evil. That love had turned to hatred before Rowan could even understand what was going on.
It had all happened so fast. She hadn't intended it to turn out the way it did. She could barely even remember it. One moment she was defending herself, the next those two people were dead before her. Their broken, busted bodies leaking through the fingers of the enormous temple statue she hadn't even recalled bringing to life.
This wasn't the outcome she wanted. This wasn't how things were supposed to be. She hated every moment of this day and wished that she could live it over properly.
And at the same time she did not.
Never before had Rowan felt such freedom. Never before in her life had she been able to control the statues around her without worry about being caught. They all knew about her now, she didn't need to hide from them. They feared her, they reviled her, yet she couldn't care.
For the first time in Rowan's life she was completely and absolutely herself. And that freedom was a heady drink of fine wine. It coursed through her veins hot and powerful. She couldn't go back to her life before. Not now that she felt this.
She lifted the eyes she hadn't even realized that she had lowered and looked up at Caspian.
He was advancing slowly towards her, lifting his sword. There was already a triumphant smile on his face as he regarded her. He was so certain of his victory now that her statue was defeated.
And he was right. Rowan could not throw a punch anymore than she could swing a sword. Even if she tried there was no way she could defeat Caspian. He was far and away the most skilled man in the entire town at the fighter's arts.
But Rowan wasn't ready to die. She had only just begun living. The freedom of it was singing in her heart even now. She didn't want to die.
That was the only thought going through her mind: I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die!
She didn't know what she was doing, she did it without thinking. As Caspian stepped into striking distance Rowan lifted her hands and slammed them against his chest.
She didn't know what she was thinking. The only thing in her mind was to avoid the death that her once betrothed represented.
It wasn't a hard shove, but behind it was the power of an enchantress and Caspian felt it like a punch to his heart.
He couldn't help it, he stepped back and tripped over his own foot. He fell to the ground, his free arm slamming into the mud of the earth as he found that he was having trouble breathing. Its like his lungs were freezing, it was getting harder and harder to draw breath.
Rowan blinked, looking down at him as if surprised to see him below her. He raised his sword slightly, his face snarling in his anger. He wasn't defeated. She couldn't fight so she couldn't defeat him.
Even as he had that thought, his arm stopped moving in the air. No matter the orders from his mind, the limb stayed motionless in midair.
Suddenly terrified, he tried to move his legs but they were just as immobile. After only a moment he realized that his face was frozen in the sneer and he could no longer blink.
"What the..."
He saw Rowan lift her hands and look them over before looking back at him. He tried to let out a curse but he couldn't speak anymore. He was no longer breathing, he couldn't even move his eyes. After a moment he felt his heart stop in his chest. It was a surreal feeling and it filled him with a primal, overwhelming panic.
Rowan reached forward and moved her hands in front of his eyes. Try as he might to follow the movement he couldn't. He was completely frozen and going insane with panic from knowing that.
"I didn't know I could do that." Rowan mumbled as she stood back up and looked at her hands in disbelief.
She turned back again to look at the newly petrified Caspian who was completely frozen in stone.